'Historic' victory for Wales

Real Madrid star Gareth Bale hailed Wales' 2-1 victory over Slovakia in their first ever European Championship finals match in Bordeaux on Saturday as "a historic moment" for the country.

Bale, who opened the scoring with a free kick in the 10th minute, said the win was "just a memorable moment, a historic moment for our country".

Asked about his opening strike, Bale said: "It doesn't matter about the goals, we got the three points and we gave our fans something to cheer."

Wales substitute Hal Robson-Kanu, who currently has no club, slid home the winner in the 81st minute after Aaron Ramsey had battled through the Slovak defence.

"For Hal to get the winner was amazing," Bale said. "When subs come on they need to have an impact and he was amazing."

Bale said Welsh thoughts were already turning to their clash with neighbours England on Thursday.

"We're not thinking about this game any more, it's on to England. We've done the first part, now two more to go."

Playing their first game at a major championship since the 1958 World Cup, Wales took a 10th-minute lead courtesy of Gareth Bale's fine free-kick, only for Slovakia substitute Ondrej Duda to equalise.

But with nine minutes remaining, Robson-Kanu, released by Reading at the end of the season, scuffed a shot past Matus Kozacik to send Chris Coleman's side striding towards the last 16.

His strike ended Wales's four-game winless run and tees the European Championship debutants up perfectly for Thursday's hotly anticipated second Group B fixture against neighbours England in Lens.

Jan Kozak's Slovakia, previously unbeaten in eight games, tackle Russia in Lille on Wednesday knowing that a second defeat could be fatal.

Switzerland defender Fabian Schaer (L) heads in the all-important goal against Albania during their Euro 2016 Group A match in Lens yesterday. Photo: AFP

Earlier, Fabien Schaer's powerful header gave Switzerland a narrow 1-0 win over 10-man Albania.

The Group A match, in the spotlight with brothers Granit and Taulant Xhaka playing for opposing sides, was decided by the sending-off of Albania captain Lorik Cana.

The Albanian underdogs were continually scrambling to get back into the game while Switzerland, who now occupy top two spots with France, never took firm control.

After just five minutes, Hoffenheim centre back Schaer rose above the Albanian defence to head in from a corner by Stoke City's Xherdan Shaqiri.

The 1.86 metre (6ft 2in) defender makes a habit of scoring for the national side, with five goals in 19 appearances now.

"It hasn't been always easy for me recently," Schaer said after.

"I've come in for a lot of criticism and am of course happy that I could help the team in such a way."

Schaer was also a rock in defence and was booked in the 12th minute for chopping down Emir Lenjani.

"I think we made it difficult for ourselves," said Schaer. "We could have made it easier for ourselves if we had taken our opportunities earlier."